Top 100 Spectacular Rules for Spotting Error –

Part 2

To Crack any Competitive Exam

Dear Bankersdaily Aspirant,

Here we are providing Spotting Error rules. This Material consists of all the common errors while we using Articles, Subject, Verb, Pronoun, Preposition etc. Spotting the Errors is the major important topic in any of the Bank Exams. We can expect upto 5-10 questions from this specific topic alone. You can read the post or else you can download this rules material as PDF.

Make use of this rules and Practice Spotting errors to score more in any Competitive Exams.

Adjectives like ‘unique’, ideal, perfect, complete, universal, entire, extreme, chief, full square and round, which do not admit different degrees of comparison should not be compared.

Incorrect- It is the most unique thing.

Correct- It is a unique thing.

All the Adjectives which refer to the same Noun should be in the same degree of comparison.

Example

Incorrect- He is the wisest and honest worker in the office.

Correct- He is the wisest and most honest worker in the office.

‘Elder’ and ‘eldest’ should be used for persons only, strictly speaking, they are used for the members of the same family only. ‘Older’ and ‘oldest’ are used for both persons and things.

Example

Incorrect- He is my older brother.

Correct- He is my elder brother.

WRONG USAGE OF ADVERBS

To modify a Verb, an Adjective or another Adverb, we use an Adverb.

Example

Incorrect- She writes very careful.

Correct- She writes very carefully.

Carefully is an Adjective which cannot modify the Adverb very, therefore carefully (Adverb) must be used in place of Adjective careful.

Too means more than required and it is used with Unpleasant Adjective. So, we cannot use too glad, too happy, too pleasant, too healthy.

Example

Incorrect- I am too glad to meet you.

Correct- I am very glad to meet you.

A sentence which is based on ‘Too’ ‘To’ format, we cannot replace ‘To’ with ‘so that’. If we replace ‘To’ with ‘so that’, ‘Too’ also must be replaced with ‘cannot’.

Example

Incorrect- He is too weak so that he cannot walk.

Correct- He is too weak to walk.

Correct- He is so weak that he cannot walk.

Much too is followed by Unpleasant Adjective, whereas too much is followed by Noun. Much too + Unpleasant Adjective. Too much + Noun.

Example

Incorrect- His failure is too much painful for me.

Correct- His failure is much too painful for me.

Incorrect- His wife’s rude behavior gives him much too pain.

Correct- His wife’s rude behavior gives him too much pain.

Quite and all are not used together.

Example

Incorrect- He is quite all right.

Correct- He is quite right (or) He is all right.

A/An + fairly + Adjective + Noun (or) Rather + A + Adjective

(i) A fairly good book

(ii) Rather a difficult problem.

But we cannot use Pleasant Adjective with rather and Unpleasant Adjective with fairly.

Example

Incorrect- It was a rather good book.

Correct- It was a fairly good book.

Enough, when used as an Adverb, is preceded by a positive degree Adjective or Adverb.

Example

Incorrect- He is greater enough to pardon you.

Correct- He is great enough to pardon you. ‘

Two negatives cancel each other. Hence two negatives should not be used in the same sentence unless we make an affirmation.

Example

Incorrect-I have not got none.

Correct- I have not got any.

‘At present’ means ‘at the present time’, ‘presently’ means ‘shortly’. These should not be confused.

Example

Incorrect- Nothing more can be done presently.

Correct- Nothing more can be done at present.

Incorrect- He will come back at present.

Correct- He will come back presently.

‘Hard’ means ‘diligently’, strenuously’, ‘Hardly’ means ‘scarcely at all’. These two Adverbial forms of ‘hard’ must not be confused.

Example

Incorrect- He tried hardly to win the race.

Correct- He tried hard to win the race.

Incorrect- She has eaten hard anything today.

Correct- She has eaten hardly anything today.

‘Much’ is used before past participles and Adjectives or Adverbs of comparative degree. ‘Very’ is used before the present participles and

Adjectives and Adverbs of positive degree.

Example

Incorrect- The news is much surprising.

Correct- The news is very surprising.

Incorrect-I was very surprised at hearing the news.

Correct- I was much surprised at hearing the news.

Hardly is an Adverb which means rarely. Whereas hard is an Adjective which means tough, rigid.

Example

Incorrect- It is a hardly job.

Correct- It is a hard job.

Ago is always used with Past Indefinite Tense. So, if ago is used in a sentence, that sentence must be in the Past Indefinite Tense.

Example

Incorrect- He has come a month ago.

Correct- He came a month ago.

At present means at this moment and it is used with Present Tense, whereas presently and shortly are used for future action and generally’ used with Future Indefinite Tense.

Example

Incorrect- Presently he is in the room.

Correct- At present he is in the room.

Early means “just after the beginning of anything” and soon means just after a point of time.

Example

Roses blossomed early this spring.

The sentence which starts with seldom, never, hardly, rarely or scarcely takes an inverse structure, i.e., Verb + Subject – Structure.

Example

Incorrect- Seldom I had seen such a beautiful sight.

Correct- Seldom had I seen such a beautiful sight.

Inversion is also used in a sentence which starts with here/there/away/out/up/indoor or outdoor and Main Verb, or Aux + Main Verb is used before the Subject.

Example

Incorrect- Away Sita went

Correct- Away went Sita.

Practice questions : Spotting Errors – Based on Adverbs

Click hereShort Cut Method

WRONG USAGE OF CONJUNCTIONS

Two Conjunctions should not be used in the same sentence.

Example

Incorrect- Although she was tired, but she still went on working.

Correct- Although she was tired, she still went on working.

‘Both’ should be followed by ‘and’. It should be used in the positive sense. In the negative sense, ‘neither’….’nor’, should be used in place of ‘both’.

Example

Incorrect- Both Ravi as well as Raja were present there.

Correct- Both Ravi and Raja were present there.

‘Either … or’, ‘neither …. ‘nor’, ‘both and’, ‘not only but also’ should be followed by the same parts of speech.

Example

Incorrect- He not only lost his ticket, but also his luggage.

Correct- He lost not only his ticket but also his luggage.

‘Neither’ should be followed, by ‘nor’, ‘either’ should be followed by ‘or’. Both these should not be confused.

Example

Incorrect- He washed neither his hands or his face.

Correct- He washed neither his hands nor his face.

‘No sooner’ should be followed by ‘than’, not by ‘but’ or ‘then’.

Example

Incorrect- No sooner do I finish this book then I shall begin another.

Correct- No sooner do I finish the book, than I shall begin another.

‘Hardly’ and ‘scarcely’ should be followed by ‘when’ or ‘before’, but not by ‘than’ or ‘that’.

Example

Incorrect- Hardly did I reach the station, than the train left it.

Correct- Hardly did I reach the station when the train left it.

‘That’ should not be used before a sentence in Direct Speech and before Interrogative Adverbs and Pronouns in the Indirect Speech.

Example

Incorrect- He said that, “I shall go there.”

Correct- He said, “I shall go there”.

Incorrect- He asked me that who I was.

Correct- He asked me who I was.

Practice Spotting Errors Questions – Based on Conjunctions below:

Set 1 : Practice here Set 2 : Practice here

WRONG USAGE OF PREPOSITION

Objective case (of Noun or Pronoun) is used after Preposition.

Example

Incorrect- I do not depend on he.

Correct- I do not depend on him.

The Prepositions used after two words must be made clear if these two words are connected by ‘and’ or ‘or’.

Example

Incorrect- She is conscious and engaged in her work.

Correct- She is conscious of and engaged in her work.

If a Principal Verb is used after about, after, at, before, for, from, in, on, to, that verb must be in ‘ing’ (V4) form.

Example

Incorrect- You prevented me from do it.

Correct- You prevented me from doing it.

On, in, at, are not used before today, tomorrow, yesterday, the following day, the next day etc.

Example

Incorrect- He will go there on tomorrow.

Correct- He will go there tomorrow.

No Preposition is used before the word home. At home is a phrase which bears a different meaning.

Example

Incorrect- Bring a T.V. set at home.

Correct- Bring a T.V. set home.

After Transitive Verbs, like discuss, describe, reach, order, tell, demand, attack, resemble, ridicule, etc. we directly use the object and no Preposition is used after the Verb.

Example

Incorrect- The poet describes about the beauty of natural in this poem.

Correct- The poet describes the beauty of nature in this poem.

Say/suggest/propose/speak/reply/explain/talk/listen/write is followed by ‘to ‘Preposition if there is a person in the form of object.

Example

Incorrect- He did not reply me.

Correct- He did not reply to me.

Incorrect- He did not write to a letter.

Correct- He did not write a letter.

Know more about Usage of Prepositions

Click here

WRONG USAGE OF PRONOUNS

When a Pronoun is used as the complement of the Verb ‘to be’, it should be in the nominative case.

Example

Incorrect- If I were him, I would not do it.

Correct- If I were he, I would not do it.

When the Pronoun is used as the object of a Verb or of a Preposition, it should be in the objective case.

Example

Incorrect- Let you and I do it.

Correct- Let you and me do it.

Incorrect- These presents are for you and I.

Correct- These presents are for you and me.

Emphatic Pronouns cannot stand alone as Subjects.

Example

Incorrect- Himself did it.

Correct- He himself did it.

The Indefinite Pronoun ‘one’ should be used throughout if used at all.

Example

Incorrect- One must not boast of his own success.

Correct- One must not boast of one’s own success.

‘Either’ or ‘neither’ is used only in speaking of two persons or things; ‘any’,’no one’ and ‘none’ is used in speaking of more than two.

Example

Incorrect- Anyone of these two roads leads to the railway station.

Correct- Either of these two roads leads to the railway station.

Incorrect- Neither of these three boys did his homework.

Correct- No one of these three boys did his homework.

‘Each other’ is used in speaking of two persons or things; ‘one another’ is used in speaking of more than two.

Example

Incorrect- The two brothers loved one another.

Correct- The two brothers loved each other.

A Noun or Pronoun governing a Gerund should be put in the possessive case.

Example

Incorrect- Please excuse me being late.

Correct- Please excuse my being late.

A Pronoun must agree with its antecedent in person, number and gender.

Example

Incorrect- Each of these boys has done their homework.

Correct- Each of these boys has done his homework.

When two or more Singular Nouns are joined by ‘and’, the Pronoun used for them must be in Plural.

Example

Incorrect- Both Raja and Ravi have done his homework.

Correct- Both Raja and Ravi have done their homework.

When two or more Singular Nouns joined by ‘and’ refer to the same person or thing, a Pronoun used for them must be in the singular.

Example

Incorrect- The collector and District Magistrate is not negligent in their duty.

Correct- The collector and District Magistrate is not negligent in his duty.

When two or more singular nouns joined by ‘or’ or ‘nor’, ‘either, or’, ‘neither …. ‘nor’, the Pronoun used for them should be in the singular.

Example

Incorrect – Neither Ravi nor Raja has done their homework.

Correct- Neither Ravi nor Raja has done his homework.

When two or more singular Pronouns of different persons come together,the Pronoun of second person singular (you) comes first, the pronoun of the first person singular (I) comes last and the pronoun of the third person singular (he) comes in between.

Example

Incorrect- I, You and he must work together.

Correct- You, he and I must work together.

When two or more plural Pro-nouns of different persons come together first person plural (we) comes first, then second person plural (you) and last of all third person plural (they).

Example

Incorrect- You, they and we must work together.

Correct- We, you and they must work together.

The Relative Pronoun who is in subjective case, whereas whom is in objective case. Therefore, for who there must be a Finite Verb in the sentence. Or otherwise, when whom (Object) is used in the sentence and there is more Finite Verb’s than the number of Subjects in the sentence, then whom should be changed into who (Subject).

Example

Incorrect- The doctor whom came here was Ram’s brother.

Correct- The doctor who came here was Ram’s brother.